Monthly Archives: March 2017

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According to my son, the one focused on ski conditions, next week looks kind of messy… not sure if that means rain, snow or mud, flood…. most of the time Mark is on the mark so be prepared for April Showers and melting snow.

So this week I read Newsweek Magazine and there is an interesting article about the Arctic Ocean and the effort Russia is making to be the claimant of the area beneath the ocean ice for mineral and oil rights. This is tied in to global warming and climate change, the ice is melting and access is getting easier. I had wondered why the current President is so unconcerned about climate issues and the future of our lives, the environment, wildlife and just life in general. This issue however makes sense- this is about business, about money and wealth and a “friend” or someone he thinks can be a good friend. If the current President gets rid of any effort to reduce climate warming (and he has) then Arctic ice will melt faster and those minerals, oil, gas, which equal $$$$$ in his brain to Russia and Putin will love him more. I had wondered before what would allow someone to believe human interference with the health and safety of human citizens of the world was nothing to be concerned about…after all the current POTUS brags about his genius genetic genes… now I wonder is it just about money, greed, wealth and the hell with the “little losers” AKA us.

This article tells a lot about what is happening right in our front yard, so to speak, and Delta fish. Here is the Humbug Herald spring edition interesting articles about historic mines.

I was going to say something nice about the Mountain Messenger but was told not too, so I have nothing to say, if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all. This week all the usual suspects are here except Be Encouraged and Dianne Ponders are on sabbatical. Carrie’s Corner, Carol’s Movie, local news and events, columnists Andrew Moss, Kevin Martin, Robert Koehler and Rob Okun are interestng reading so put on the thinking cap and read.

The photo this week is by Scherie Platt Stilson of two hawks (oops correction, Scherie let me know these are two Bald Eagles) purusing the Sierra Valley.

A restaurant worker and father of four daughters in Southern California is arrested while dropping his youngest daughter off at school. A young woman in Mississippi is taken into custody after speaking at a news conference about her fears of being deported; she is released on unspecified terms only after attorneys, including lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Law Center, intervene. A popular restaurant owner is apprehended near his home in a small town in Illinois and released on bond only after an outpouring of local support, including letters from local law enforcement officials. A woman with whom I serve on a committee for a civic organization breaks down in tears at a recent meeting, revealing her “undocumented” status and her fears of being deported after raising her family in the U.S.

This is the face of the new Trump policies dealing with the 11 million undocumented people in the United States, policies that vastly expand the threat of deportation to anyone living in the U.S. without documentation. No longer do certain priorities, such as felonies or “significant misdemeanors” take precedence; now anyone who entered the country without documents, including a person who lived here for many years, is vulnerable to deportation. Millions of people who have been living and working in the U.S., contributing to their communities and to the economy, are now at risk simply for who they are: people “without papers.”

The policy doesn’t simply threaten specific individuals, families, or communities. It imperils all of us, not simply because it emerged from the racialized rhetoric and scapegoating promulgated by candidate and President Trump – and not simply because it enacts these evils in official government policy. It imperils us because it places into question our very identities as Americans. Is citizenship only a matter of status and category, i.e. the possession or non-possession of a birth certificate, green card, or certificate of naturalization? Or does it mean something deeper: a responsibility to one’s fellow human beings?

In describing the values energizing his quest for social justice, Martin Luther King Jr often referred to what he called the “beloved community,” a vision of society that recognized the interrelatedness of all life and the moral obligations that follow from those interrelations. As he said, “To the degree that I harm my brother, no matter what he is doing to me, to that extent I am harming myself.” King understood that people could also harm themselves by failing to act, by engaging in forms of complicity that corrode the conscience and diminish one’s own sense of humanity.

For these and other reasons, many people have stepped up to their responsibilities to the fellow members of their communities – neighbors, employees, students, co-workers, employers – rejecting an invidious documented/undocumented binary to give new meaning to American citizenship. They are growing the sanctuary movement in their churches, communities, municipalities, and states. They are attending and supporting “know your rights” workshops, signing up for “rapid response” networks to be present when people are detained, and working at the local and state levels to support policies that resist federal intimidation. The “know your rights” workshops are particularly important because they affirm that all people in the U.S., no matter whether they are citizens or not, have rights, including the right to remain silent.

These actions point to another motive beyond personal conscience for resisting Trump’s deportation policies. You may recall the opening lines of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s chilling poem: “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist.” Niemöller, a Lutheran minister who initially supported and then resisted Hitler, and who was held captive in Nazi concentration camps for seven years, closed his poem with these words, “Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

In choosing the general pronoun “they” over a specific historical reference to Nazis, Muller offered a stark warning transcending time and place: crushing the rights of individuals in any society ultimately means crushing the rights of all. When silent complicity prevails, the gates to authoritarianism are opened wide. Yet the choice to speak on behalf of the other can still be exercised if citizens act in time. In such choosing we can see not only the movement of the individual conscience. We can also see how democracy itself – the culture and institutions sustaining human rights – can be kept alive as well.

Andrew Moss, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is an emeritus professor at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he taught in Nonviolence Studies for 10 years.

President Trump, the tweeter-in-chief, famously used that platform to announce, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”

Actually, most of the world’s countries long ago came to their senses regarding nuclear arms, as only nine countries have chosen to deploy these horrific weapons. This week, the United Nations General Assembly began negotiations on a global treaty to ban nuclear weapons, similar to the agreements outlawing chemical and biological weapons. A second round of talks will be held from mid-June through early July, which could result in a treaty being signed by a large majority of the world’s nation-states.

These negotiations are somewhat curious, since the overwhelming majority of states are already prohibited from getting nukes, since 1970, by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). In return for foregoing nukes, the non-nuclear signatories expected the then five nuclear powers (the United States, Soviet Union/now Russia, United Kingdom, France and China) to live up to their end of the bargain to conduct good faith negotiations to abolish their arsenals, as agreed in the treaty’s Article 6, which they have not done. Subsequently, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea joined the nuclear club.

Many non-nuclear states see the NPT process, with review conferences at the UN every five years, to be an exasperating waste of time, hence the new push to negotiate a treaty to ban nukes. The thinking among leading proponents of the treaty, both governments and non-governmental organizations, is that nukes can be banned, stigmatized and even made illegal under international law before they are actually abolished. Predictably, the nuclear haves are not supporting the new effort.

As a matter of fact, all nine nuclear powers are going in the wrong direction, committing to decades long, multi-trillion dollar upgrades of their nuclear arsenals. The U.S. began its nuclear “modernization” program, which should properly be dubbed the New Nuclear Arms Race, under President Obama, and it will be soup to nuts – nuclear laboratories, storage facilities, warheads and bombs, missiles, planes and submarines. The projected price tag for all that is at least $1 trillion over 30 years, and if past experience holds, it will surely cost more, likely much more. These exorbitant expenditures will displace needed investments in feeding the poor, educating our children, building badly needed civilian infrastructure and addressing climate change.

Some Members of Congress advocate a different approach. U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced a bill to prohibit any U.S. president from initiating a nuclear strike without a declaration of war from Congress. Senator Markey also introduced the SANE Act, to significantly curtail nuclear weapons spending, and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has a resolution expressing opposition to nuclear weapons “modernization.” None of these measures are expected to become law any time soon, but offer an alternative to the dangerous business as usual approach, or worse, a global nuclear escalation.

Unless or until these and more sensible policies are enacted, U.S. foreign and military policies encourage nuclear proliferation, thus making America and the world less secure. Because of overwhelming U.S. conventional and nuclear superiority, combined with NATO’s eastward expansion and provocative missile defense deployments, which are properly seen by Russia as part of a first strike capability, not a defensive strategy, Russia is now more reliant on nukes for its defense. Similarly, North Korea’s ramping up of its nuclear weapons and missile programs, while regrettable, is perfectly logical, as it finds itself in a dangerous region brimming with nukes, and facing a hostile U.S./South Korea/Japan alliance whose military, economic and political might dwarfs that of North Korea. Recently, Obama Administration officials admitted they knew North Korea would keep, and in fact enhance, its nuclear and missile programs after the overthrow of Muammar Ghaddafi in Libya, who had voluntarily ditched his chemical and nuclear weapons, only to be ousted in U.S./NATO attacks that destabilized the country, creating yet another failed state in the Middle East.

Put even more starkly, on nukes and other regional and international policies emphasizing military might over diplomacy, aid and development, American tax dollars fund a U.S. foreign and military policy that makes America and the whole world less safe.

So one might reasonably ask the president, who has come to their senses on nukes, and who has not? Let’s cancel the New Nuclear Arms Race, challenge the other nuclear states to do likewise, and join the talks for a treaty to once and for all close the door on the folly of nuclear weaponry.

Kevin Martin, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is President of Peace Action, the country’s largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization with more than 200,000 supporters nationwide.

After the release of the 2005 Access Hollywood video caught him admitting to sexually assaulting women, many citizens couldn’t believe he could receive enough Electoral College votes to become president. I was one of them.

On January 31, I was a signatory to an open letter to Mr. Trump in POLITICO calling on him “to support this country’s, and the world’s, women.” (An accompanying petition is gaining names). My co-letter writers and I challenged the president to set a high standard, to show that he is a man who believes in women’s equality and who opposes discrimination and violence of all kinds by men against women and girls.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump often repeated, “Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” even as he said and did things women and men consider disgraceful. (No need to reiterate here his many vulgar, offensive characterizations of women.) We reminded Mr. Trump that there is nothing manly about disrespecting women, and called on him “to make amends and to set a new tone.” Will he? The White House plan to gut funding for Office of Violence Against Women Act grants, and his executive action barring from receiving US government funding any international NGOs that perform or promote abortions, suggest it’s unlikely.

Because the U.S. has long been a leader in promoting women’s empowerment around the globe, we urged Mr. Trump to insure the U.S. strengthen that role. Women deserve equal pay, affordable, high quality childcare and reproductive health services, we wrote, as well as paid family and medical leave for mothers—and fathers—so we can all care for our children. (In a glaring omission, Ivanka Trump’s family leave proposal omits fathers.) We also called for the U.S. to expand efforts at home and abroad to ensure women and girls are not harassed, beaten, or raped.

We reminded Mr. Trump why millions of women marched in this country and around the world the day after his inauguration: because women are apprehensive and fearful that their rights will no longer be seen as human rights; because they fear for their own, and for their families’ futures; because they’re disturbed his administration will roll back basic protections. We shared that as men who unequivocally believe in gender equality, that we—and tens of thousands of other men—marched with them. (His discriminatory executive order barring from the U.S. citizens from seven targeted countries only underscores our shared concerns.)

Mr. Trump, use the presidency to explicitly demonstrate that “you will champion the rights of all women”—including immigrant women, women of diverse religious faiths, and diverse sexual orientations and identities, indigenous women, racial minority women, women with disabilities, women who are economically impoverished, and women who are survivors of violence.

We wrote: Show us you will elevate women’s voices and women’s leadership by supporting the International Violence Against Women Act, and programs and campaigns against sexual assault on campus that support initiatives that prevent men’s violence against women; that you will hold accountable men who disrespect women.

Show us by supporting pay transparency and the Paycheck Fairness Act that you believe in giving women the platform to fight discrimination in the workforce.

Show us by supporting paid family leave and affordable childcare for all parents.

As men who deeply believe in women’s rights, we wanted Mr. Trump to know that every day we stand up for women in our personal and professional lives. We dared him to show the world that he’s a man who abhors all violence against women and girls, and who champions equality.

A president’s words and actions reverberate not just around the country but around the word. If “nobody has more respect for women and girls than me,” than show us, we challenged Mr. Trump. “Show us that you agree that men need to speak out and stand up against inequality and violence against women. Show us that you will #BeAModelMan.”

The Violence and Discrimination Women Face

Too many women and girls in the U.S. face violence and discrimination that we perpetuate in our homes, our schools, our workplaces, and policies.

· One in four women in the U.S. will experience violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend at some point in her life, and underreporting persists due to stigma, as well as policies which don’t hold perpetrators accountable.

· Women in the U.S. are paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, for the same work.

· 3 out of 10 women under 45 will need to access safe and legal abortion in the U.S., a right which is now under threat.

· Nearly 1 in 5 women in the U.S. has been raped in her lifetime, including in her own home, in the military, on college campuses and schools.

Rob Okun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is editor of Voice Male. A new edition of his book, Voice Male – The Untold Story of the Profeminist Men’s Movement will be published this year.

We committed a quiet little war crime the other day. Forty-plus people are dead, taken out with Hellfire missiles while they were praying.

Or maybe not. Maybe they were just insurgents. The women and children, if there were any, were . . . come on, you know the lingo, collateral damage. The Pentagon is going to “look into” allegations that what happened last March 16 in the village of al-Jinah in northern Syria was something more serious than a terrorist takeout operation, which, if you read the official commentary, seems like the geopolitical equivalent of rodent control.

The target was “assessed to be a meeting place for al-Qaeda, and we took the strike,” a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command explained. The strike involved two Reaper (as in Grim Reaper) drones and their payload of Hellfire missiles, plus a 500-pound bomb.

The target, at least according to human rights organizations and civilians on the ground, was a mosque during prayer hour.

“U.S. officials said the strikes . . . had killed ‘dozens’ of militants at a meeting of the terrorist group,” according to the Washington Post. “But local activists and a monitoring group reported that at least 46 people died, and more were trapped under rubble, when the attack struck a mosque during a religious gathering. . . . Photos from the area showed rescue workers pulling mangled bodies from a mound of rubble.”

One local resident told AgenceFrance-Presse: “I saw 15 bodies and lots of body parts in the debris when I arrived. We couldn’t even recognize some of the bodies.”

During the 30 seconds of attention the story garnered, the controversy was whether it was a mosque that was hit or a building across the street from a mosque. The Pentagon even declassified a photo of the bombing aftermath, showing that a small building near the ghastly bomb crater was still standing. However, according to The Intercept: “Activists and first responders say the building that was targeted was a part of the mosque complex — and that the charred rubble shown in the photo was where 300 people were praying when the bombs began to hit.”

Anyway, the news cycle moved on. My initial thought, as I read about the bombing, which was not described as a massacre or slaughter in the mainstream headlines, but remained an “incident,” is that the media have a default agreement on morality: Killing’s OK as long as it’s emotionless, coldly rational and strategic (even if mistakenly so). This is the American way. Coldly strategic murder can be reported in such a way that it fits into the global infrastructure of safety and the control of evil.

But killing is bad if there’s passion involved. Passion is easily linked to “extremism” and wrongthink. The man killed this month by police at Paris’ Orly Airport, for instance, had cried, “I am here to die for Allah — there will be deaths.”

This fits neatly into the moral certainty of the Western world. Compare this to military PR talk, also reported in The Intercept: “The area,” according to a U.S. Navy spokesperson, “was extensively surveilled prior to the strike in order to minimize civilian casualties.”

In both cases, the perpetrators foresaw dead bodies left in the wake of their action. Nevertheless, the American military machine carefully avoided the public’s, or the media’s, moral disapproval. And geopolitics remains a game of good vs. evil: as morally complex as 10-year-old boys playing cowboys and Indians.

What I had not foreseen was how quickly the story would disappear from the news cycle. It simply couldn’t compete with the Trump cacophony of tweets and lies and whatever else passes for the news that America consumes. This adds a whole new dimension of media indifference to the actual cost of war, but I guess no nation could wage endless war if its official media made a big deal out of every mosque or hospital it (mistakenly) bombed, or put human faces on all its collateral damage.

I write this with sarcasm and irony, but what I feel is a troubled despair too deep to fathom. Global humanity, led by the United States of America, the planet’s primo superpower, is devolving into a state of perpetual war. It has caged itself into unending self-hatred.

“The way in which U.S. militarism is taken for granted,” Maya Schenwar writes at Truthout, “mirrors the ways in which other forms of mass violence are deemed inevitable — policing, deportation, the genocide and erasure of Indigenous peoples, the exploitative market-driven health care system, the vastly inequitable education system and disastrous environmental policies. The generally accepted logic tells us that these things will remain with us: The best we can hope for, according to this narrative, is modest reform amid monstrous violence.

“We have to choose,” she says, “life-giving priorities over violent ones. We have to stop granting legitimacy to all forms of state violence.”

Yes, yes, but how? The necessity of war has not been challenged at official levels of power in this country in more than four decades. The corporate media grants legitimacy to state violence more by what it doesn’t say than by what it does. Bombed mosques simply disappear from the news and, voila, they never happened. Liars had a global forum to promote the invasion of Iraq, while those who questioned it had to loose their outrage from street corners. “Collateral damage” is a linguistic blur, a magician’s cape, hiding mass murder.

And Donald Trump is under the control of the militarized far right as well as his own clueless immaturity. Of course his new budget, released, as Schenwar points out, on the anniversary of the My Lai Massacre, ups the military allotment by $54 billion and gouges social spending. As we protest and write letters to Congress and express our shock and awe at what is happening, let us keep in mind that Trump merely puts a face on America’s out-of-control militarism. He didn’t create it.

For the protests against his budget cuts to be effective, for the roiling turmoil to matter, a new country must be in formation.

Robert Koehler, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor.

Carol Says: Ya know, reading about a movie is so different from what the movie really is. And, being a Rob Reiner movie, we thought this would really be good. We were disappointed.

The acting was good, so that is the good thing, but the movie is a downer. Charlie is an 18 year old addict and leaves rehab, just to go back to rehab and actually do better. But things go bad again, and at the end (spoiler) he is going to be OK. He is angry at his dad but has a good relationship with his mother. Charlie’s girlfriend is not doing too well, though.

So this is about Charlie and his addictions and going to rehab and getting out and going back in, etc etc. His anger at his dad and so on. No humor in this movie, and it is a Rob Reiner movie. Go figure.

What a funny, silly and delightful movie this is! In the first 10 minutes, I was not sure which way it was going….if I would make it through the movie or not. It starts off a little offensive, but that drops off and started taking shape and we just laughed our way through it. I think I might watch it again.

A couple moves into a neighborhood and another couple in the neighborhood thinks the newcomers, the Jones, are spies. And it just goes from there.

I thought the acting was good, and made the movie as good as it is. It is not meant to be the movie of the year but just something fun to watch. There are some quiet one liners that are funny – keep your ears open.

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson filed a court brief Wednesday supporting Santa Clara County’s request to halt an executive order by President Donald Trump that threatens to stop federal funding for California cities, counties, and possibly public schools.
Torlakson filed a friend of the court brief in the Federal Court’s Ninth District, where Santa Clara County has filed for a preliminary injunction to stop the President’s Executive Order of January 2017.
The injunction request said the order is unconstitutional because it would compel local governments to take an active role in enforcing immigration law and could withhold federal funding from agencies, including schools, which declare themselves “sanctuary jurisdictions.” The order doesn’t clearly define that term.
Torlakson last year urged California school districts to declare themselves “Safe Havens” and reminded parents and their families that state and federal law guarantee that students can attend public school, regardless of immigration status. To date, 57 separate school district boards of directors, representing nearly two million students combined, have adopted such resolutions.
“The Executive Order places schools, schools districts, and county offices of education, who have merely identified themselves as safe havens for undocumented students, in the precarious position of losing large amounts of federal funds without warning, notice, or clear guidance about what is meant by the order,” Torlakson said in the court brief.
California receives more than $8 billion annually in federal funds for kindergarten through twelfth grade education, which then goes to public schools, districts, and county offices of education. Federal funding ranges from help for students in disadvantaged communities to free and reduced cost breakfast and lunch for students from low-income families.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick is scheduled to hold a hearing on the Santa Clara County motion on April 5, 2017.

DOYLE, Calif. ­– The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will restrict public riding and driving during the 50th annual Diamond Back Hare Scrambles motorcycle races, from Saturday to Sunday, April 8 to 9, at the Fort Sage Off Highway Vehicle area near Doyle.

Race course trails will only be open to those participating in the race. The BLM expects approximately 200 competitors.

“For safety reasons we must keep casual riders off the trails, while these high-speed races are underway,” said Marisa Williams, an outdoor recreation planner for the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville.

Spectators are welcome in a designated viewing area near the start/finish line at the trailhead on the east side of the Fort Sage Mountains. To reach the trailhead, take the Laver Crossing Road (just north of Doyle) east from Highway 395. Turn right on Hackstaff Road, then turn left onto Fort Sage Road. Follow the road about seven miles to the Widowmaker Trailhead. The route will be marked with flags and signs.

The races are sponsored by the Lassen Motorcycle Club and the Motorcycle Racing Association of Northern Nevada, which have a special permit from the BLM. The organizers will provide course marshals, and the BLM will provide law enforcement rangers and staff to help monitor the event.

For more information, telephone Marisa Williams at the BLM office in Susanville, (530) 252-5303.

Please come to an informative and collaborative gathering of business owners and community leaders in Eastern Plumas County with the goal of generating greater economic vitality for all in the Lost Sierra.

Even if you’re not directly involved in HRRT, this meeting is for you and anyone who is interested in working together to solve some of our area’s challenges.

Join us on Thursday, March 30th, 2017, 5:30 pm at the Chalet View Lodge Conference Room. Refreshments will be served.

This meeting builds on last fall’s Think Tank Orientation where some of the area’s pressing business challenges were identified. Hear about the progress that has been made since then and become part of the solutions moving forward.

Positive change can occur when groups come together in a creative, collaborative environment. Please join in. There’s no limit to what we can accomplish together.

For more information and RSVP contact: Audrey Ellis at the Eastern Plumas Chamber and Visitor’s Center. 530-836-6811, epluchmb@gmail.com

Here is a photo at Coyoteville on Monday, it pains me to think how this photo will be a pinprick to Don Russell’s belief that Larry Allen is his only best friend. Larry has expanded his source of friendship and is having lunch with “Closed Session” David Prentice. If you ever have attended a Sierra County Board of Supervisors meeting you will understand the most hated words Don might hear is the Board Chair announcing they are going into closed session and Don is ejected kicking and screaming from the Boardroom. Maybe the second words he hates most are from Sgt Anderson or Sheriff Standley stating, “that’s not public information”. It is difficult being Don, he is always standing up for truth and knowledge and being shuffled around with words he hates to hear. Unless you are buying a subscription or an ad, he does like to hear, “yeh, save me money and give me a two year subscription.” He also likes it when he is approached with eyes cast down and the words, “may I speak” asked on Wednesdays, he knows you understand his need for total domination and room to think. What to see him actually happy? Buy an ad, any ad, Easter ads are nice and it is almost here.

3/29/17 Normally this would be a photo of Larry Allen (who is known as Don’s best and maybe only friend) and Don Russell at Coyoteville for lunch, however County Counsel David Prentice appears to be edging his way into the relationship… you can see Larry is deep in thought wondering if this could be a mistake……

Send anything you need published to Milly, the CEO and most important person in the office, at yesdearyousuck@yahoo.com or you may call directly to 530 289-3262 and talk to Don, (and suggest he give a raise to Jill, Milly’s secretary). For a subscription: send in as below or call 530 289-3262 with credit card in hand.. Write to Don Russell at mtnmess@cwo.com and tell him you subscribed because you read about it on Sierra County Prospect…..

Last Saturday evening we attended the Chamber Mixer in Loyalton at the Milton Gottardi Museum. The Calendar of Events stated, something like, “An opportunity to meet neighbors and discuss tourism in Sierra County”. Well, if you are looking for something fun and interesting to tour, make the short drive over the hill to visit said museum and take a stroll though a huge part of Sierra County history. Curator, Jackie Mitchell, was on hand, Saturday, to guide us through some of the amazingly organized rooms and then we discovered the railroad room – wow! The enthusiastic folks who constructed the model railroad did an outstanding job – there are even sound effects!
The museum is open year around by appointment; however, starting Memorial Day weekend it is open Friday through Sunday, through Labor Day weekend. For exact hours, you can call (530) 993-6752. Sierra County is so lucky to have three terrific museums – The Downieville Museum, The Kentucky Mine Museum, and the Milton Gottardi Museum – visit one soon!!!
Mike and Karen Galan

Downieville is a mountain biking, hiking and fishing community with lakes and rivers in western Sierra County surrounded by the Tahoe National Forest and the northern Sierra Nevada mountains.

The positions are two new opportunities to further develop ALS capacity and provide 24 hour 7 day per week coverage with a well established BLS & AEMT volunteer Downieville Ambulance system. Schedule TBD, Salary BOE, Trauma & Medical experience required including ACLS & PALS. On Call pay and Call out Pay included. Must be Nor-Cal EMS Certified.

EL DORADO COUNTY TAKES ON TRUMP– TRAINING ON COMMUNITY ORGANIZING OFFERED

Contact: Michael Munoz vantyne@earthlink.com

Progressives in El Dorado County are digging in for the long haul in a series of meetings focused on community organizing.

WHAT: Training on finding solutions on immigration

WHO: The trainings are offered by the Gray Panthers of El Dorado County. The instructor is Michael Munoz, retired union organizer.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. March 29, 2017

WHERE: Fine Arts School in the Pines, 492 Main Street, Placerville, California 95667

Sponsored by the Gray Panthers of El Dorado County, residents here are taking crash courses in subjects like community organizing, diversity and immigrant rights. The instructor is Michael Munoz, who spent 30 years as a successful organizer with the Carpenters and Machinists Unions.

El Dorado residents already packed the room for the two sessions held since Trump’s inauguration, the first on community organizing, the second on organizing in diverse communities. His trainings are about direct action based on the methods of Community Organizer Saul Alinsky.

“El Dorado County has been bright ‘red,’ “says Munoz, “but we can unseat Tom McClintock if we organize and focus on the real effects of Trump’s policies on families. Our next session will be discussing how the immigrant work force is being exploited and finding a solution to the problem”.

“These sessions are for people who actually want to do something, instead of just wringing their hands and wailing at their Facebook.,” he said.

Global Ready China program prepares state for more than 1 million Chinese travelers each year

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. – Today’s Global Ready China seminar in Mammoth Lakes, along with earlier seminars in Lake Tahoe and across the state, cap a three-year endeavor to prepare California’s tourism industry for Chinese visitors and establishes California as the first China Ready ski and snow destination in the nation.

A record 1.3 million Chinese tourists visited the Golden State last year, collectively spending $2.9 billion. Visit California – the state’s nonprofit tourism marketing organization – has hosted more than 1,800 tourism industry partners in a statewide series of seminars to prepare the industry for welcoming Chinese visitors.

“We are rolling out the red carpet for Chinese travelers by becoming the first ‘China Ready’ ski and snow destination in the country,” said Caroline Beteta, President and CEO of Visit California. “This latest evolution of the innovative series keeps California businesses competitively positioned to attract and engage visitors from this critically important market.”

Endless summers are synonymous with California, yet for a growing number of Chinese visitors, it’s the state’s winter attractions and snow activities that are gaining popularity. From skiing to sledding, or just enjoying a hot cocoa on a picturesque snow day – California is home to one of the longest ski seasons in North America with the ultimate landscape for the perfect snow adventure.

“California’s ski resorts are the perfect place for visitors from around the world to explore the diverse opportunities winter destinations have to offer,” said John Urdi, Executive Director, Mammoth Lakes Tourism. “We’ve seen an significant uptick in Chinese visitors in recent years and are adapting our customer experience to make sure their trip to the Golden State is one-of-a-kind.”

California is expecting visitation from China to continue its rapid growth, with an estimated 2 million annual Chinese visitors expected by 2020. To ensure California’s ski and snow destinations are well-positioned to accommodate international visitors, Visit California’s Global Ready China seminars provide businesses with the insight they need to provide unique, tailored and culturally relevant vacation experiences for visitors from China and around the world.

“International visitors are an economic engine for local communities, providing valuable jobs and fueling growth for our tourism industry,” said Andy Wirth, President and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, the parent company of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts. “With the record snowfall this season, we’re committed to becoming Global Ready so that Chinese visitors can enjoy all California’s winter wonderland has to offer.”

Since 2015, Visit California has hosted Global Ready China seminars to equip local businesses with cultural, sales and service trainings to ensure a quality travel experience for visitors from California’s top overseas market. Attendees represent all sectors of the travel industry, including hotels, attractions, retail establishments, restaurants, tour operators and more.

About Visit CaliforniaVisit California is a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state’s travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, spending by travelers totaled $125.9 billion in 2016 in California, directly supporting 1,090,000 jobs in the state and generating $10.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California, go to www.travelmattersca.com.